Open Sources Show Notes for Thursday October 6, 2016

On this Thursday before Thanksgiving, Open Sources Guelph is going to stuff you silly with all the latest topical discussion, and what else says “holiday weekend” like a stunning nation-wide debate on a response to an issue global importance that boils the entire situation down to dollars and cents? An argument between various members of the same party accusing one and other who’s more elitist, that’s what! On the flip side, we’ll talk about why no one’s really talking about third party candidates for president in the U.S. and then we’ll discuss why a slim majority of Colombians decided to not give peace a chance this week.

This Thursday, October 6, at 5 pm, Scotty Hertz and Adam A. Donaldson will discuss:

1) Carbon Sloppy. Talk about mixed messages. The Trudeau government last week announced that they were giving approval for the LNG pipeline, albeit with a laundry list of conditions that have to be met, and then on Monday they announced such a stringent carbon tax that three provincial environment ministers walked out of the ministerial meeting they were having. Justin Trudeau clearly wants to set a tone for the debate, and that tone is “Do what I say!” but while several politicians threw a fit about Trudeau’s pressure tactics, others are saying that it’s too little too late on the issue of global climate change. A couple of questions persist though: is this plan going to get the public support it needs, and why is the typically affable Justin Trudeau playing the tough guy on such a key issue.

2) Elite Squawk. Andrew Scheer became the latest member of the Conservative leadership race last week, announcing his candidacy from the National Press Gallery. Like an elitist! At least that’s how Kellie Leitch campaign manager Nick Kouvalis framed it in an email to Leitch supporters. You see, Scheer is an elitist because not only did he use the Gallery as intended, but he’s also been vocally critical of Leitch’s near universally-panned idea to have a Canadian values test for new immigrants. But in having one Conservative leadership campaign call another elitist, might we be starting to see the shades of Trump-style populism in the Great White North?

3) The Third Man (and Woman). Republican Donald Trump has created so much havoc in this campaign it’s hard enough for Hillary Clinton to get a word in edgewise, let alone any of the other people running for president. So this week we’ll focus on the two major third party candidates, how are they faring in this weirdo campaign year? On the one hand, you have Libertarian Gary Johnson, who’s got a lot of momentum, but occasionally displays a frightening level of ignorance on foreign affairs. Meanwhile, Jill Stein of the Green Party might be able to appeal to those looking for a sensible alternative if she herself were sensible enough to not spout anti-vaxxer nonsense and conspiracy theories. So what’s someone looking for a third party option to do?

4) (Almost) Peace in Our Time. Those Colombians. If a few more of them had gone the other way this week, we would be officially living in a hemisphere free of war. The Colombians voted against peace deal that would have ended the 52-year war between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia by a razor thin margin, but not all hope is lost. Looking at the bigger picture, 5 out of 6 people around the world live in peace, and while there are dangers from terrorism, gang violence and other things, the majority of the world knows what it’s like to live free of armed conflict. We’ll look at the Colombian situation, and talk about whether we might ever see a peaceful world.